by Brian Mahany
One of the advantages of being the editor of a blog is the ability to occasionally leave one’s comfort zone and write something unique. Yes, our blog focus will always be on the fight against fraud and helping individuals and small businesses with tax problems. It is useful, however, to discuss some of the reasons we are different from other law firms.
Einstein said that our mind is divided into two parts. The intuitive mind and the rational mind. The intuitive mind is a sacred gift while the rational mind is a faithful servant. 21st century society has honored the servant but forgotten the gift. Einstein’s thinking explains why bureaucracies like the IRS flourish. It explains the need for more government control and the loss of our uniqueness.
Einstein says that along the way, we have forgotten the sacred gift of the intuitive mind. He’s right.
Frequently I hear from clients that tell of multimillion dollar legal bills. Yet no one on their legal team can truly identify a strategy for winning the case. Frequently, no one can even define what “winning” means.
Our law firm is different. Of course we follow court rules and the law but we pride ourselves with the ability to always look at the big picture, to focus on the end game. What does that mean?
It means finding creative ways to settle cases without huge legal fees. It means knowing how and when to apply pressure to our advesaries and it means thinking of our client matters as both legal and political opportunities. Legal problems are seldom as “black and white” as many believe. Laws need to be interpreted in light of changing technology and societal mores. Legal problems need to be taken in context.
Case in point – Our own Joe Bird filed one of the largest false claims act cases in the history of the U.S. Using a post civil war statute designed to combat procurement fraud. (Congress passed the false claims act back in the 1800’s to allow citizens to help the government recover money from providers of lame mules, rancid food and faulty weapons during the civil war.) We used that anti-fraud law to sue Allied Home Mortgage Corporation, one of the largest mortgage lenders in the country. The suit claims that by ignoring HUD and FHA underwriting guidelines, US taxpayers got stuck with insuring billions of dollars of bad mortgage loans. Last week, the U.S. Attorney for Manhattan intervened in our suit and claims Allied is responsible for $2.4 billion in damages.
The world doesn’t need more lawyers. It needs more lawyers with an intuitive mind.
We are living in a free society but one with a huge network of rules that cover just about every aspect of our life and business dealings and strangle freedom. We also are living in the so called digital information age where tremendous amounts of information are available at the click of a mouse yet many don’t know where to look or use the information available to them.
If you are looking for a fresh perspective to a difficult problem, come speak to us. Find out why we are different and how we can help.
Contact attorney Brian Mahany for more information on the services we provide. Brian can be reached at (414) 704-6731 (direct) or by email at
[Hat tip to wayseers.org and Iain McGilchrist]